A known door handle device for a vehicle including an outside door handle is provided with a mechanism that prevents a vehicle door from opening by an inertia force applied when the vehicle is in a collision. An example of the door handle device is disclosed in JP2008-156935A (hereinafter referred to as Patent reference 1). According to the door handle device disclosed in Patent reference 1, an inertia stopper member rotating to an engagement position by the inertia force applied when the vehicle is in a collision prevents an engagement portion from moving by engaging with the engagement portion of the outside handle being associated with a door latch mechanism. As a result, because the door latch mechanism is prevented from switching from a locked state to an unlocked state by the movement of the outside handle to an outer side of the vehicle when the vehicle is in a collision, the vehicle door can be prevented from opening.
According to the door handle device disclosed in Patent reference 1, in a case where the outside handle moves to the outer side of the vehicle before the inertia stopper member is rotated by the inertia force applied when the vehicle is in a collision, the inertia stopper member may not be engaged with the engagement portion of the outside handle. Moreover, in a case where the inertia force is applied to the vehicle door again before the inertia stopper member is returned to an initial position after rotating to the engagement portion by the inertia force, the returning movement of the inertia stopper member does not meet a timing in which the engagement portion of the outside handle is prevented from moving. Accordingly, the inertia stopper member may not be engaged with the engagement portion of the outside handle. As such, in a case where the movement of the inertia stopper member delays when the vehicle is in a collision, the inertia stopper member may not be operated appropriately.
A need thus exists for a door handle device for a vehicle which is not susceptible to the drawback mentioned above.